Medical Is this Clinical or Nonclinical Volunteering?

[TheBoneDoctah]

So I recently got a volunteering position @ a residential pediatric facility. At this facility, I will be more or less spending time with patients by playing games with them, reading to them, and interacting with them. However, I will not know their medical conditions. I am not sure if this is clinical or nonclinical volunteering. I asked the volunteering manager and was told this would be nonclinical. However, I just wanted to make sure if it was because of the analogy "if you are close enough to a patient where you can smell them, it is clinical". Thanks for the help!

I don't know if I would go by that exactly haha.

I would say this is clinical though because you are interacting with patients in a patient care setting.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

I actually had something similar when I applied and put it as clinical and no one said anything.

See what other experts on here say before you make your final decision.

 

[MusicDOc124]

To me this is non-clinical. Everyone is a patient somewhere, so if you were playing games with kids through say Big Brothers Big Sisters, is that clinical too? Nope. Is what you are doing directly changing or helping that patient medically or helping those who are taking care of them by alleviating a task that they'd otherwise have to do that gives them some sort of information, even if its a 1:1 observation or taking vitals? Even shadowing is direct observation in a medical setting while likely knowing the diagnosis and talking to the provider you're following about it while seeing day-to-day. Even patient transport would be clinical - as transporting them to and from CT, MRI, etc have an effect on their care.
If not, then its non-clinical IMO.

Even the manager of the volunteering you're completing (and who you would presumably list) is saying it's non clinical.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

To me this is non-clinical. Everyone is a patient somewhere, so if you were playing games with kids through say Big Brothers Big Sisters, is that clinical too? Nope. Is what you are doing directly changing or helping that patient medically or helping those who are taking care of them by alleviating a task that they'd otherwise have to do that gives them some sort of information, even if its a 1:1 observation or taking vitals? Even shadowing is direct observation in a medical setting while likely knowing the diagnosis and talking to the provider you're following about it while seeing day-to-day. Even patient transport would be clinical - as transporting them to and from CT, MRI, etc have an effect on their care.
If not, then its non-clinical IMO.

Even the manager of the volunteering you're completing (and who you would presumably list) is saying it's non clinical.

Fair enough. I stand corrected.

 

[Goro]

Clinical in my book

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What is a residential pediatric facility? Do nurses work there or on call? Do nurses supervise you?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

As you can see, it is a grey area. Just put it as clinical if you need more clinical hours.

 

[tantacles]

@Mr.Smile12 it's a nursing home that houses kids with special health needs. there are doctors and nurses everywhere. Also, @TheBoneDoctah I was hoping this would be my only clinical activity due to COVID making finding clinical volunteering locations extremely difficult. also, ty for the responses @MusicDOc124 @Goro

This sounds like it checks the boxes for both volunteering and clinical experience; hence, clinical volunteering. It sounds like all of the children are actively patients being cared for by the facility, and I'm ok with calling this clinical.